Fire Emblem: Dangerous Magic
by Z-Day
Summary: Follows the made up characters Corse, Cass, and Joshua from the made up town Celequia. Bandits attack a town and get defeated when information leads to old demons to be show in a young teenager. A message gets sent for aid and some heroes of Renais come. They later come across some dangerous magic. Summary and title will constantly be edited until i get done...eventually. on siesta
1. Chapter 1

Fire Emblem: Darkness Reappears

Chapter 1 Corse, Cass, and Joshua

"Corse? Corse!" a female voice shouted. "Corse Morganas! Wake up!" Corse was shaken awake, his red hair falling in his face. He grunted saying, "No I just want to sleep." He all of a sudden felt a heavy thud against his head. Pulling his head forward he shouted, "Dang Cass! I want to sleep! What is it now?" He stared at a girl, leaning on a sword, and who was smirking at him. "If you want to get this shack into a good working order for your "mercenary guild" that I'm joining, you might want to go help Josh collect some wood and stone to repair this joint." Cass said. Cass Mellor was a 5'5" girl with black hair, blue eyes, and one heck of a jokester attitude. She was a self-taught and self-proclaimed sword master. She had known Joshua and Corse since the three of them met each other in the marketplace at five years of age. Corse rubbed the side of his head saying, "Did you have to hit me?" As he stood up he brushed off his shoulder. "Come on you know better than that. That's my trademark "quit screwin around" hit." It was true. She did that to him and Joshua a lot. The two we're in a small, three roomed hut that the three had spent the two years of gold they saved to turn it into a base for their mercenary guild. "So pick up your sword, get on your feet, and lets go." Cass said grabbing Corse by his shoulder and pulling him up to his feet. She was also a much stronger girl than she looked. She pushed her bangs away from her eyes and setting her shoulder length hair behind her shoulders. She walked out the door; adjusting her skirt and shouting, "Hurry up!" Corse stretched, wiped the sleep out of his red eyes, and quickly followed after his friend with his sword in hand.

"God where are those two? I swear if they stopped and got food without me I'm going to skin them alive. They better not have spent the gold. That place needs some major patches." A blue haired teenager was standing outside of a lumber and stone mill/store. "So Joshua where are your pals? They late again?" a tall, muscular man with graying hair asked. Joshua turned around saying, "No Algus I'm sure they're just running late. I've always been the one taking initiative out of the three of us." "Actually none of you take the initiative. You all work at your own speed. Believe me the times I've seen you all when you were kids, you all work only when it is required." Algus said smiling. Joshua remembered when he, Cass, and Corse were younger they would be caught playing around the mill by Algus. He had been like a father to the three when each of their parents passed away. All their fathers were guards of the town of Celequia and had died in a massive raid by a large starving bandit horde one deadly winter. Their mothers were of the civilians caught as collateral damage. Joshua, Cass, and Corse had met each other in the marketplace and had stayed with each other because of their parents having been similar in jobs. Algus had walked back to the area where they unloaded stone from the nearby mines and sawed wood from the forest. Celequia was a large village with a decent economy and had townsfolk who were guards. The village was attacked, not frequently but still attacked, by bandits. They had managed to repel the attacks but the last winter had been devastating and the town always had a large stockpile of supplies stored up. The attack had been one of the largest the village has seen. Joshua shook his head, getting rid of those thoughts. The last thing he remembered was that it was Corse who took his parent's death the hardest and that the stone and lumber mill were the ones to be attacked the most. He stood waiting, swiping his blade along the ground unaware of forms watching him in the bushes.

"Your mugs get ready. We're gonna get this place now." "Right boss! Now or never! There are only workers here and just a kid trying to play soldier. No problem." "Shut up and let's go."

"Come on slow poke. Rise and shine. It was your idea to want to fix that shack up so you are helping lug everything there." Cass said skipping along, twirling her sword. Corse was following along his jokester friend, "I was to busy imagining ideas for our mercenaries so I didn't sleep." "Sure you were. Cause I wasn't planning to tie your hair up with daisies." Cass said quickly stopping to pick a flower then throwing it at Corse. Then she bent back down and picked to two more flowers and then continued along. Cass seemed to always be a jokester and happy go lucky girl except when things get serious. She was wearing her favorite outfit: a black skirt and a short sleeved black top. The skirt had red lining on the bottom edge and the top had red lining along the sleeve edges and along the bottom. Corse was wearing just his everyday clothes: white pants with blue along the leg bottoms and a white sleeveless shirt with blue along the shirt's bottom edges. The two were within five minutes of the wood and stone mill and Cass was tying her hair into a ponytail with the flowers whenever the two heard a sharp clang and stopped suddenly. "Was that a sword…" Cass was about to say before Corse said yes and bolted past his friend, with his sword drawn. Cass quickly followed after him, finishing the ponytail and then drew her sword.

Joshua didn't know what happened. All he was doing was standing and waiting for Cass and Corse and then all of a sudden four men jumped him. If he hadn't had his sword out, their swords and axes would have run him through. The bandits must have been surprised that a teenager could fight because he was just barely holding them off. The workers weren't fighters but he heard a sudden shout and then a burly figured rushed forward with a wood cutting ax and slammed to of the attackers back. Joshua recognized Algus as he heavily punched another in the face. Joshua quickly jumped and kicked the other back. "Kid you need to remember I'm retired but I can fight. These louts can only stare and watch." Algus said pointing to the startled workers behind him. Joshua forgot that Algus used to fight in the army of Renais. All of a sudden he heard a female and male's voice shout, "Joshua! What's going on?" He saw Cass, with flowers wrapping her hair in a ponytail, and Corse running quickly towards them, stopping within a few yards of the attackers. "Bandits." Algus said glaring at the four. "I remember them from the winter. The three teens had quick flashbacks from when they were all ten years old. Bandits stormed into the town, killing everyone they could, and taking those they could, desperate for food. Corse tightened his grip on his blade. He felt more hatred for bandits because on that winter, his father was killed but his mother wasn't. His mother was taken and never seen again. He told Joshua and Cass that she was among the collateral but he knew they didn't believe him. "You curs were in that attack." He flashed back and saw the four in the carnage. "You killed innocents. You killed Cass and Josh's parents. You killed my father but you did something almost as bad as that. You took my mother from me. I was ten years old! We three were ten years old!" Corse pointed his sword at the four bandits. "Now. You will die. I will tear you to pieces and not even leave your corpses for the buzzards and wolfs!" Algus, Cass, and Joshua looked in disbelief at Corse's sudden ferocity. He sounded nothing like their mild mannered, lazy friend who was hot tempered but barely showed it. He had the look of a demon in his eye like he was literally about to behead the bandits and anyone who would try to stop him. The four bandits looked at the fiery kid and laughed. "You? You're just a kid playing soldier! You have a two other similar minded punks and an old coot!" "I ain't that old punk!" Algus said, pointing the wood ax at them. "I'm not waiting any longer! They need to pay!" Corse said rushing head first towards the bandits, his sword in both hands. He quickly swung it downwards like an ax with a powerful cleave. A surprised bandit who seemed to be the leader blocked it. The bandit was then hit by a quick kick in the groin and a swift knee to the face. Joshua saw a bandit try and take advantage of Corse's pause by swinging his ax. Joshua ran at the attacker who had swung with a slow but powerful attack and stopped it by jumping in the air, kicking him in the head, and pushing it into the dirt. As he back flipped off he saw Cass take another by surprise with a quick series of slashes. As the last bandit tried to team up on Cass, Algus lumbered forward tackling the fourth to the ground. Those three continued to hack and pound away at the three bandits while Corse was ferociously pounding the recovering leader. He was more skilled with the blade than what Corse had thought but he was surprised at the rage of the kid. Corse swung his second swing clumsily but powerful, being blocked but pushing the bandit back. He quickly brought it around in a downward slash, locking his opponent's sword with his and the ground. Corse then followed up with a kick in the skull knocking him to the dirt and started wildly slashing in rage with multiple downward strokes that were barely being blocked. Only last slash and the bandit dropped the blade holding his hand in pain.

Corse held his blade, point down for the final kill, when he heard Cass shout, "Corse stop!" He stopped himself but didn't turn to face the three and just kept his blade poised above the bandit's stomach. "Why should I Cass? Don't you know what he helped do?" Corse asked. "Because you don't want to become like they are! You don't want to be some ruthless killer of unarmed men." Of in the distance the distance they could here distant hoof beats, probably from the towns guard. "Rat scum like them don't deserve to live yes but we've already embarrassed them! They can't go back. They were beaten by three teens and an old man." Joshua said. "Hey! Quit calling me old." "They were part of that winter raid. They killed plenty of innocents and took plenty of people!" Corse said. "We know that but you don't want them to start thinking you would be a murderer to." Cass said starting to get at a loss of words. Cass, Joshua, and Algus had incapacitated the other three bandits and were making sure they didn't go anywhere as they tried to talk Corse out of killing the fourth. Algus said as calm as he could, "Corse. I knew yours, Joshua's, and Cass's parents. I knew them very well and I knew you took the raid the hardest out of everyone in the town did. I know your mother wasn't killed like your father because I saw she wasn't among the dead. I know they still wouldn't want you to murder someone out of pure hatred in your heart. C'mon kid just don't do it. Don't do it for your friends or me. Do it for your parents. Corse had turned his head to Algus as he talked and then turned his head down the road to the hoof beats coming closer to them. He looked down at the bandit who wasn't so tough anymore before saying, "I know you were part of that attack. I know you killed innocents. You killed their parents and you killed my father. But you did one other thing: you took my mother away from me. You took a mother away from a ten-year-old little boy! You took the families away from two other ten year olds and multiple other little kids! I hope you like hell because that is where you're going!" Corse then brought his blade down into a stab at the bandit's heart as he heard Cass, Joshua, and Algus shout, "No!" and the town soldiers appeared.

Everyone stood still as Corse drove his sword into the ground next to the bandit. He looked down towards the bandit staring at him in shock and said, "You're lucky they were there." Cavaliers and Rangers from the town's guard rode up after he pulled his sword out of the ground. Some rangers dismounted following a worker who must have gone to get help. Corse's head was down to the ground to where no one could see his face. Cass and Joshua walked over as they passed the soldiers picking up the bandits and shoving them towards the town. The leader of the party would have to find Corse later because he seemed like he just needed time alone. "Let's go." The cavaliers and rangers left with the thoughts of what might have happened, running through their heads. Corse just stood their with tears slowly falling down his face as Cass took his hand and Joshua put his arm around his friend's shoulder. The three were having similar flashbacks about each of their parents. Algus hefted the ax onto his shoulder and walked towards his workers shouting, "Everyone get out of here. Go back home and be glad you didn't get slaughtered because of the kids." "C'mon Corse let's go. We all need to rest." Cass said timidly. Joshua nodded in agreement, sheathing his sword.

The three were on the path back to town where they lived in an average sword studio putting to shame the town guards. They also made their living by teaching what they taught themselves. They passed by their future headquarters and five minutes down the road and by a small patch of flowers before Corse finally collapsed to his knees, the tears streaming as the memories and images finally exploded. "Corse!" Cass and Joshua cried. Corse couldn't help it. He could only cry as the memories of the past and what just happened overwhelmed him. "Why!" Corse shouted slamming his fist to the ground. "Why couldn't I kill him? Why couldn't he be the one who took her?" Joshua knelt to the ground putting his hand on his friend's shoulder and Cass sat next to Corse with her arms around him. She looked over at Joshua mouthing the words, "What's wrong?" Joshua mouthed back, "Memories." "God I miss them. I miss her. I don't even know if she's alive. Why did it have to happen guys?" Corse said through his tears. Cass remembered eight years ago whenever the raid happened. Corse, Cass, and Joshua's fathers had gotten together to get the kids and their mothers to safety. They got killed defending their families and then stray arrows hit Joshua and Cass's mothers. Corse's mother was able to get them into a basement and the door shut to keep the kids safe. Corse was pounding on the door as he heard his mother scream. A commotion was heard as Cass remembered that she heard a struggle and then nothing. Corse had managed to see something but Joshua and Cass never knew. She looked up at Joshua, seeing that he thought the same thing. Corse had taken everything that night harder than everyone else but had gotten through it seemingly in the next year. He then became the carefree, lazy, and serious only when needed type of person. She hadn't thought that he was this traumatized that a bandit and a memory would cause him to break down like this. "Is she alive? I…I have to know. I have to find their hideout. I remember the remnants banded back together. I have to find out and get justice." Corse continued crying as Cass put her head on his shoulder and Joshua remembered the night himself with his hand still on Corse's shoulder. Cass always felt like she could feel the feelings of anyone else because right now she felt what Corse was feeling. The three had a bond that no one else could understand. Slowly Cass and Joshua started crying to as they tried comforting Corse on the road.

Two days had passed as the three worked through the cool down after the incident at the mill. The three were getting ready to close down the studio part of their small home. The three then heard someone calling their names outside. Joshua opened the door to three town guards with serious looks on there face. "Those bandits haven't been talking to us. We've been trying to get where their hold out was but their leader said he wanted to talk to the kid who almost killed him." Hearing that, Corse picked up his sword and quickly walked forward saying, "Why? Does that dastard want to die by my blade?" Corse was still very tense and had run through ten dummies in the past days trying to calm him self down. "If you would come with us then. The three of you please."

The three guards took Joshua, Corse, and Cass to a multi roomed, two-story hut near the walls. This was the building where the guards had their base of operations. They went inside and into a small 10x12 room where the bandit was sitting with shackles attached to his feet and wrist. The guards made Cass hold Corse's weapon so he wouldn't kill the leader. "Well I see you brought him. I wanted to get a better look at you." The bandit studied over Corse whose face was heating up because of the bandit acting like he didn't just cause Corse to go berserk. Those memories were too painful and he didn't want them back. "Yeah. I got a glimpse of you eight years ago and the description is true as day. I'll make a deal with you soldier boys. I tell you where the hide out is if I go free. How bout it?" Cass, Joshua, and another soldier held Corse back as he clenched his fist and shouted, "Don't make a deal! You attacked our town years ago and you killed innocent people as well as kidnapping them! Who knows maybe you even sell them to slavery you scum!" "You read my mind kid. I think I remember eight years ago in order to get food we sold a couple of people from here. I remember one woman was begging to let everyone go and making promises. She had a small portrait in her dress of a little boy with your same hair and eyes. Does a woman with nearly bleach blonde hair and light blue eyes ring a bell?" Corse froze when he heard the description. His mind flashed back to his mother's face. It had been so long but her beautiful face was still clear as a crystal. Corse broke free from the guard and his friends. He ran forward, wrapping his hands around the bandit's throat, shouting as he was being pulled from behind by guards, "Tell me where you sold her! I'll kill you if you don't tell! Tell me now! Tell me now!" The guards had to pull Corse with Cass and Joshua's help out of the building. Joshua could just here the guard leader say; "We have a deal" over Corse's shouting. The two guards hated to do it but they threw Corse to the ground saying, "Sorry." Corse just sat up, cursing himself for how stupid he was. What Cass, Joshua, and Corse all didn't understand that Corse's mother could be alive. If they were going to learn anything they would need to go with the guards to the bandits hide out. "Mom." Corse said gazing at the building. "Come on Cass. He needs to rest." They picked up Corse and carried him back to their home.

"In the mountains about three miles north through the forest. I can lead ya." The bandit smiled as he remembered the red headed kid's look. He really got his goat. "Don't even know if his mother is alive still." The guards just looked at him. The lead guardsman said. Send word to Renais. I have a bad feeling he's leading us into a trap. Let's tell them about a possibility of them knowing where slavers are." A guard saluted and ran to the message room to write the message. The lead guardsman turned to another guard and said, "Lets get ready to recruit some people. We might need some more muscle."

The halls of Castle Renais were all like they have been under Eirika's and Ephraim's rule: Happy but still with seriousness in the air. The twins were those out of a large group who stopped the Demon King from taking over Magvel. All that had happened almost eight years ago. The two twins had married people in the same group with Eirika marrying the commander of the Knights of Renais, Seth, and Ephraim marrying the Frelian princess Tana. That day Seth was out training recruits and Tana had gone back to Frelia to meet with her brother Innes and her father King Hayden about affairs in happening there. Eirika and her brother were sitting in a conference room listening to similar issues especially about a recent problem with kidnappings and bandits all around Renais. She heard that right after they got back from defeating the Demon King, a village had been attacked by a massive group of bandits. She couldn't remember the name of the village though since she heard about it eight years ago. "My queen?" one of Renais' senators asked. "Did you hear that about the village of Ide? They were surprised with a small bandit attack this morning but Sir Garcia and his son held it off." Eirika nodded yes even though she hadn't heard that. The meeting continued on into further discussions on ways to try and deal with the severity of the bandit attacks. "Maybe if we actually can take a few knights and deal with some of the bandits that might make them think twice about attacking." Ephraim said. A senator countered saying, "No disrespect my lord but that might lead to the other towns and villages to want aid and not need it. That would then go and leave us down on man power." Ephraim said, "Well then maybe we could enlist the aid of Jehanna, Frelia, Carcino, and Rausten. I'm sure they have just as much issues with bandits as much as they do monsters coming from the Lagdu Ruins and the Tower of Valni. I'm sure then we would have enough man power." The other senators looked at each other before one said, "I guess we're in agreement if your sister, the queen, agrees." "Yeah. I agree with my brother." Eirika said looking at Ephraim. "Then the meeting is done. We'll tell General Seth about the plans." Eirika said.

Seth was out in the training ground with Kyle, Forde, and Franz training the new recruits. Kyle was in charge of training the recruits becoming knights, Forde and Franz were training the cavaliers, and Seth was working with other foot soldiers. They had been training all day for the past three days. Sometimes he wished that Sir Garcia and his son Ross would come sometime to put some more ferocity into their troops as well as strategy that was already being pumped into the troops. According to Garcia though, a town a few hours from Ide and a few days from Renais was recently attacked by four bandits and was repelled by a retired soldier from Renais and three civilians three days ago. He didn't know if it was true or not but if it was then they would be good choices for the military. He would like to meet the civilians someday. What Seth didn't know is that he would meet those "civilians" and retired soldier sooner than he thought when someone shouted, "Look! Someone's at the gate." A soldier ran up to Seth saying, "There's an unknown cavalier riding up to the gate. He looks tired, injured, and he isn't wearing any nation's colors. He looks like he's from a town or village." "Let's get to the gate then. Kyle, Forde, Franze! Follow me." Seth called. The green haired knight in heavy, green armor rode up to Seth beside two paladins, one in green armor and the other in red. The four then rode out of the training ground area up to the castle gates. What they saw was a cavalier in unknown brown, leather armor with shoulder length, black hair. The cavalier didn't notice them and seemed to be shaking in shock. Their head was nodding to their chest with an arrow sticking out of their shoulder. All of a sudden the cavalier fell off its horse and onto the ground. Seth, Kyle, Forde, and Franz rushed over to the cavalier's side and turned them over. "It's a woman." Kyle said. "Must be from a village somewhere. That seems like just a standard outfit for a town guard or something General Seth." Franz said. "We'll figure something out later. Forde go tell the medics we've got someone for them, Franz get her horse, and Kyle help me with her but be careful." Seth said pulling the cavalier up. "Yes sir!" the three knights said. Forde rushed off to the training ground where the barracks and medical station was and Kyle and Seth picked up the unconscious cavalier carefully by the shoulders and took her in the direction Forde went. Franz got off his horse and took his and the woman's horse behind Seth and Kyle. The recruits looked at them when Seth called, "Dismissed! Return to the barracks!" and left.

The cavalier stirred in her bed before jolting up. She clutched her shoulder as it throbbed and then she noticed she was in a medical bed. Her shoulder and upper torso, from her stomach up, was bandaged underneath a blue cotton shirt. Then she heard a young man's voice, "Oh you're awake. I was just coming in to check on you. Let me go get General Seth." The cavalier then looked around and saw she was in some sort of sickbay and her armor and pack was against a wall next to her bed. She felt her head, feeling a bandage around her forehead. All of a sudden she heard footsteps and turned around. A man with red hair, eyes, and blue and red armor was walking towards her with a younger man in tow. "I see you're awake. Allow me to introduce myself. I'm General Seth of the Knights of Renais. This is Franz. What is your name miss?" he said motion to himself and the younger man who was in green armor and had blond hair and green eyes. The cavalier quickly said, "My name is Meadow Sortine. I'm a town guard from Celequia and I have a message for the knights in my pack." She quickly turned and tried to climb out of her bed to get her pack but fell back as her side started throbbing. The younger knight, Franz, said, "You don't want to move much. When General Seth and our friend Kyle brought you in, they said you had an arrow in your shoulder and a gash in your side once your armor was removed. The doctor said you had been in shock for hours before falling off your horse at the gate." Franz then walked over to Meadow's messenger pack, pulling out the rolled up parchment and bringing it to Seth. Seth took it and unrolled, reading the contents aloud, "The town guard of Celequia formally request the aid of the Knights of Renais to attack a supposed bandit stronghold. Information was give to us by a bandit in captivity. The town and the town guard feel it safer to request aid because we do not have the full manpower to protect the town and attack the stronghold. If aid cannot be sent please send back Meadow as quickly as possible. Regards from Tork Gansan, leader of the Celequia town guard." "Celequia?" Seth said, "That was the village attacked by bandits recently and eight years ago?" "Yes sir. If I can remember correctly, I had heard that it was attacked the same day we had defeated the Demon King." Franz replied. Seth read the letter again before speaking. "I'll take this to King Ephraim. It's his decision to send the knights anywhere miss Meadow. I'll make sure to return with his answer. Franz, you can go home to Amelia and your daughter. Make sure to tell Forde and Kyle they can go to." Seth said, turning and walking out of the room. "Yes sir General!" Franz said. He then turned to Meadow and said, "Miss you should just rest. The doctor says the healing staves closed the wound but you'll still be sore for a while. They'll come to check on you later." As he left the room he said, "Sleep tight miss." Meadow was left in her bed thinking that he had to be 24 or 26 years old. She was only 20 and a simple town guard and was being shown respect by two high-ranking royal knights. She laid back, feeling pain in her side and shoulder, remembering being attacked by bandits an after leaving Ide.

She was making good time when all of a sudden she felt a piercing pain in her right shoulder as an arrow impaled her. Multiple bandits, wielding swords and axes, came out of the trees on the side of the rode. She drew her sword clumsily since she was right handed and kicked her horse into gear. Her horse reared into the air as she felt a large pain in her side. A sword-wielding bandit had slashed a large gash into her side. She brought her horse down and brought her sword across her chest, stabbing the bandit through the chest. She rushed her horse through the surrounding bandits, causing a hole to where she made her way towards Renais. The pain in her side and shoulder was overwhelming as she rode and her leather armor became a bloody mess. The last thing Meadow remembered was arriving at Renais Castle gates before blacking. She started to fall asleep as she hoped the king would let the knights assist Celequia. Then she succumbed to her exhaustion and fell asleep.

Seth intered the castle garden where Eirika and her brother King Ephraim were standing and talking in front of a statue of their father King Fado. King Fado had died eight years ago in an attack by Grado forces. Eirika and Seth's child, whom they named after the twin's father Fado, was holding his mother's hand as the twins were standing and talking in front of the statue. "Your highness, Eirika. Our visitor had a message for the knights that I thought you should see." Seth said holding the message to Ephraim as he and Eirika turned around. Fado walked to his father's side and Seth ruffled his hair slightly. Ephraim read the message and showed it to his sister as he whispered, "Eirika do you think we could do this?" Eirika replied, "You heard what Forde told us. The messenger was apparently attacked. I think if we don't help, we could be ruining a chance to hopefully scare the bandits. If we can't help then we should at least send an escort back with the messenger." Ephraim and Eirika talked back and forth a few more seconds. Ephraim trusted his sister as much if not more than his wife Tana or Seth who he trusted with his life. He always confided with Eirika no matter the situation and before he talked with anyone else. Seth felt a slight tugging on his sleeve as Fado asked, "What is mommy and uncle Ephraim talking about?" Seth smiled before he answered his 6 year old son. "Your mother and uncle are talking about answering a call for help from a young woman who arrived earlier today." "Didn't you say it was good to help people?" Fado asked. Seth smiled again at his son's questions. Before he could answer, Ephraim asked Seth, "Seth is our friend able to come for a conference?" Seth bowed and said, "I'll go ask her and the doctor my king." He then motioned for Fado to go back to his mother and took his leave.

Seth walked into the sick bay where a doctor had just walked up to Meadow. The doctor saw Seth and nodded, acknowledging his arrival. Meadow was sleeping peacefully, her black hair falling in her face. Seth walked up to the doctor and asked, "King Ephraim would like to know if she can come for a council with him." The doctor looked at Meadow and replied, "I'm not sure general. I still think she should rest but I think she could if the king wanted her to." Meadow then started to stir and opened her eyes as Seth and the doctor finished talking. She groaned slightly as she rubbed her eyes and sat up. "How long have I been out? I feel like I've slept for hours. Oh hello General Seth." Seth nodded to her as the doctor told her she had only been sleeping about thirty minutes. "Miss the king wanted to know if you would be able to have a conference with him and his sister." Meadow adjusted her shoulder slightly saying, "If the king wants me to I guess I can. It would probably take me a while if I hurt every time I might move but I think I could." She pushed back the blanket with her left hand and a slowly swung her legs out. She held her side for a few seconds as she grunted slightly. She started to stand up but caught herself, as she was about to fall. "Hey don't you all have any sort of elixirs?" The doctor replied saying, "It wouldn't do you much good. Your mostly sore and weary from blood loss. You didn't get much rest." "If I have to get my mother to teach me to walk again that's fine. I'm a Celequia town guard and we don't just sit around in a watchtower with whiskey all day. I'll just be one of the ones with battle scars." Meadow said getting up a little bit quicker and steadied her self. Seth liked how the town guard persevered through the pain. She would most likely make a decent soldier. She took a breath as the doctor shook his head. "Okay where's your king?" Meadow asked.

In Celequia everyone was waiting anxiously for the messenger, Meadow, to get back. They all knew she was going to stop in Ide and another small village on the way to Renais castle. The message was important since the six major kingdoms were all dealing with bandits. They hoped that the King and the leader of the Knights of Renais would help if they found out a bandit strong hold was found. Celequia, even being a town of five hundred people, knew when the help of a larger force when needed. In Corse, Cass, and Joshua's mercenary headquarters in progress, wood beams and other building materials were spread around. Corse was sleeping with a mallet across his lap and his head against a wall. Cass was outside working on a small little garden out front. Joshua was lying on the roof with a whittled toothpick in his mouth. The three friends were waiting with a mix of patience and impatience for Meadow to get back. The three and everyone else in the town had no idea that bandits attacked Meadow. Cass was the most close to Meadow because the two treated each other like sisters and she had helped the three since the attack. "Hey Corse! Joshua!" Cass shouted waking the two. "Does anyone want to give me a hand with getting water from the stream for my flowers?" Joshua leaned lazily over the roof and Corse stared out the window. Cass stood up, adjusted her skirt, and said, "Well fine. If you two aren't going to help a lady with a simple task, I don't know how you two will get any women at all!" Joshua looked over and said, "Hey Corse. Did anyone just now notice that Cass is a woman? She fights like a man!" "Ah go punch a knight!" Cass said as the two laughed. Corse was leaning out the window still smiling slightly before saying, "In all seriousness though has anyone gotten gossip or something about Meadow making it to the castle?" Joshua and Cass looked at each other and shook their heads.

Meadow was led into a room with a long table with a few men and women in white. At the head of the table were a man and a woman with light blue hair. The two looked just a like so they had to be the twin rulers Eirika and Ephraim. "You must be the cavalier Forde and Seth told us about. Please sit down." Meadow made her way slowly to a seat next to one of the men dressed in a white robe. She pulled out the chair before Seth could saying, "Sorry but a girl from a small country town can pull out a chair. Thank you general." Seth just smiled and walked behind the king and his sister. "So miss. First lets start out with your name first." Ephraim started. Meadow pushed her bangs out of her eyes and held her side softly with her good arm and said, "My name is Meadow your highness. One of the town guards of Celequia." "Okay then first things first are that me and my sister talked over what we were going to do. We both decided on helping you with your towns call for help. Our general Seth agreed to it and I had just finished talking with some of the other council members." Meadow stopped Ephraim saying, "Um your highness? I don't mean to sound rude but can we just keep the fancy politics to simple speech please? I'm just a small town girl and I'm not much into politics." Some of the council members murmured to each other but Ephraim dismissed it saying, "I understand. Now its been agreed that we're going to help your town. We've been planning with the other four nations to try and deal with the rise in bandit attacks. My sister and I discussed at how we might be able to show a sign of a crackdown to try and scare the bandits and make it easier to get them." "So you're saying you are going to send a small group of knights that with their skill might incite a fear that could make the bandits mess up and you might be able to track them down easily?" Meadow asked. "Yes. If we could we would scatter our army all over Renais to keep towns safe. We're going to let General Seth gather the group he's going to bring. I trust he's going to pick a good group and help you all." "Yes sir. I'm planning on bringing Forde, Kyle, and Franz. I'm going to ask if Neimi can lend us her skills as a Ranger. She could be of great help but she would have to leave her children though." Seth said. Ephraim, Eirika, Seth, and some of the council members had a slight discussion as Meadow thought about Franz and the other potential member Neimi. Franz had a wife and a child and apparently the other member Neimi was a mother. She knew Franz would come because he is serving but Neimi sounded like she wasn't in the military. "Compile who is coming and ask Neimi. I think we're done and now I think our meeting is done. Council members you may leave and Seth you may take our guest back to her hospital bed." Meadow got up slowly and asked as Seth walked besides her, she asked, "Um general? I would like to know about if some of my friends could possibly help. They help fend off against a small attack recently before I left. They're the best swordsmen and woman in our town. They are even better than a lot of the town guards." Seth looked at Meadow and said, "I guess I can look but we want to keep as many civilians away from a dangerous mission as much as possible." Meadow followed Seth out as the King and his sister bid her farewell thinking that Seth might let Cass, Corse, and Joshua join once he saw them. The only thing is he might not like the three's lay about attitudes and tendency to mess around and be hot headed. Seth continued on and escorted Meadow back to her hospital bed where she laid down and fell asleep thinking. She thought that she was glad she got her message to the king and how much Cass was going to chew her out for almost getting killed.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Kids These Days

"Eat my boot!" Cass shouted and then she kicked Joshua in the shin as their blades were locked.

Joshua clutched his shin in instinct and was suddenly shoved back by Cass's boot and had a sword at his chest.

"Hey that was dirty!" Joshua shouted.

Cass just stuck her blade in the ground and laughed, "We aren't noble knights or paladins Josh, we're simple kids who can do what they want in a sword fight. By what we want I mean whatever it takes to win."

Corse followed up saying, "It's true. If you find yourself in the situation where you can't win you…trip the opposition up a little. Think of it as sabotage in war or using guerilla tactics: Hit them where they don't see it coming."

Cass and Joshua grabbed each other's wrist as she started to pull him up when he yanked her to the ground on his right and rolled over placing a knee on her gut. He placed a hand on Cass's head and held her down.

"Now you're learning. Out of the three of us you're the biggest goody two shoes but I and the queen of dirty fighting will see to that."

Joshua got up and pulled Cass to her feet where he got met by kick to shin again. Joshua clutched his shin while jumping on the other foot cursing as Cass asked, "Does anyone know where Meadow is? It's been four days and the town guards have been making preparations without her. They don't want to leave without her because she's one of their best trackers and fighters they have but I think they just might, because they seem that urgent."

"Think they're gonna tell me? They don't want me going with them and they won't tell me anything. But I'm going to tell you two this: no matter what, I'm following our people to the bandit holdout. If my mom is still alive then I'm going to do whatever it takes to get her back."

"I figure you would say that but that isn't what I was asking. Did anyone hear ANYTHING about Meadow?" Cass whined kicking up a cloud of dirt.

"I don't know but we got a group of horses with riders coming this way. From what I can see they appear to be wearing armor of some sort but I can't tell what nation or town." Joshua said, squinting off in the distance.

Meadow adjusted her sword strap as she rode next to General Seth. Seth had gotten together a small group of his trusted knights and a top notch ranger who they had known and fought with for years. The paladin in the green armor Franz was on the other side of Seth. Franz's brother Forde, the paladin in red was on Ephraim's right and the great knight Kyle was on Eirika's left. The ranger in the group was a fairly young girl name Neimi. She looked to be about eighteen to twenty years old to Meadow. When the group stopped by to take her with them, Meadow saw her say goodbye to a man with blue hair in a small ponytail and a young boy and girl. That was two days ago. Now they were really close to Celequia only being about ten minutes away from the town. Neimi seemed like she heard something as she cocked her head to listen.

"We're really close. In about a minute we can see a building that some people I know hang around. From there we'll be almost nine or eight minutes away from Celequia." Meadow said pointing.

The group came up the hill and Neimi said, "I see it. I can see three teens looking in our direction now…with swords drawn."

Meadow heard the caution in Neimi's voice and quickly said, "I know those three. They're the ones who I said hung around the building. They helped hold off that bandit attack with the head mill worker."

"I finally get to meet the brave civilians then. Three of them are teenagers? They must be impressive." Seth said.

"They best the majority of our guards and they have no training whatsoever. I've shown them very little and they taught themselves the rest of what they know. The guards go to learn new tricks FROM them." Meadow put in bragging slightly.

Kyle just thought they were kids playing soldier and that the town must have very few capable guards if teens could best them. Then they heard a female voice and Neimi saw one of the teens wave and jump in the air.

"Hello over there! What town or city are you from? Are you friendly or maybe bandits?" Cass was shouting at the horse riders.

Joshua and Corse both slapped their foreheads in annoyance. Cass was far too friendly and would spill her secrets to the friendliest stranger she met.

Seeing her friends do that, she pouted and said, "I can hear them partially even though they aren't talking very loud. It sounds and looks like they are knights or something but I still can't tell."

"Wait you can hear them? Is your hearing getting better because all I can do is see them? I can't even hear the big guy's armor rattle."

"Yeah I've been noticing that. Last week you said you heard a falcon flying overhead and then all of a sudden one flew down and landed on a building, looking at you. Then before that you woke up one night scared to death of a rat you said you heard in your flowers." Corse remarked.

Cass never really noticed anything until they said that. She had always thought she had go hearing until she heard their names being said.

"Guys I think Meadow is with that group!" Cass said bouncing excitedly.

"If that's so then that means…" Joshua started saying

"Those others have to be from Renais! That means Meadow got the message to them and they wanted to help! But why is there so few of them?" Corse finished and asked.

"Must be an elite guard. I heard that a few soldiers from Renais wiped out all floors of the Lagdu Ruins only to be chased out again by giant spiders that came from out of pure darkness." Joshua guessed.

Cass startled the two by shouting, "Meadow you get your butt over here now! You had me worried sick!"

"How are you two only friends? You could be siblings and not know it, you look somewhat alike." Joshua remarked.

"Is that a sister of yours?" Franz asked the Celequian guard.

"No just someone who acts like it. I'm going to go on ahead general." Meadow said kicking her horse into a trot towards the three teens.

Meadow dismounted from her horse at a different angle than usual when she was quickly hugged by the energetic girl. Just quickly pain still went through her shoulder even though the wound was healed. She was still rather sore.

"Ow, ow, ow! Cass let go of my shoulder!" Meadow cried squirming out of the vice grip of a hug.

"Why you didn't miss me?" Cass pouted as she let go.

"No that isn't why, it's because I was attacked delivering my message to Renais after leaving Ide. I was shot in the shoulder by an arrow and had my side cut open by a sword." Meadow explained.

Cass stomped and swung her sword forgetting it was in her hands. "I'll gut those bandits like the animals they are! Where are they?"

Joshua and Corse ducked and fell down while Meadow leapt to the side.

"Cass you forgot your sword was in your hand again!" Corse and Joshua both yelled as they tackled their friend to the ground.

"My bad my bad now can you let me up please?" Cass asked huffing as the two held her arms down.

As the three got up they heard multiple hoof beats suddenly stop. They looked up and saw a male great knight in green armor, a male paladin in green armor, another male in red, a female in pink and green ranger attire, a man in blue paladin armor, and two twins in royal garments. One was wielding a sword and another was wielding a spear.

"I'm sorry you had to see that general. My friend normally doesn't forget her sword is in her hands but let me introduce these three. My swing happy friend here is Cass Mellor. Then this is Joshua Warzen and this is Corse Morganas." Meadow said motioning to Cass, Joshua, then Corse.

The man in the blue paladin armor nodded and said, "Pleased to meet you. I'm Seth, a general in the Army of Renais. This is Kyle, Franz, Neimi, Forde, and the rulers of Renais: Ephraim and Eirika. Meadow told us about you and a retired soldier holding off bandits."

"Well now our little town must be honored. We expected help from normal foot soldiers, not a general who helped fight the demon king alongside our twin rulers of our great kingdom." Joshua said bowing alongside Corse and Cass.

"Suck up." Corse and Cass said quietly laughing.

Cass bounced back up and asked, "So when do we go stick us some coward bandit pigs?"

"Yeah. Your royal knights and highnesses came at just the right time because our guys are close to leaving and we're going with them." Corse said motioning to the direction of Celequia.

The ranger Neimi got a slight worried look on her face before asking, "Why are you going on such a dangerous task?"

Joshua responded, "Well we aren't exactly going but we were thinking of tagging along and making ourselves known at the last moment."

"That's extremely dangerous. You shouldn't go on a task like this." Eirika said with sincerity in her voice.

Corse said with a slight bow of respect, "I'm sorry your majesty but in Celequia, bandits made things personal between us and a majority of the citizens. We don't care what we have to do, we are going with the group."

Meadow faced the ground and put her hand over her face while the great knight Kyle gave a stare that would freeze a revenant.

Ephraim gave a similar stare as Seth said, "We need to go. We'll talk with the leader of the guards and Meadow. If you would lead the way."

Meadow saluted then remounted on her horse, "Yes general follow me."

"Great you went and blew the plan. Now we're going to have to figure something else out." Cass said in a huff.

"At least they found out early how serious the situation is with bandits." Corse added with a shrug.

"Anyone else think the big guy Kyle is scary? I think he stopped my blood with that stare." Joshua asked, tilting his head in the direction of the knights and their friend.

"I'm extremely sorry for my friend's behavior. They've always been hot headed and recent events have made them twice as worse, especially with Corse." Meadow apologized.

Kyle spoke before anyone else, "If I may speak, do their parents even know they want to go on this mission? Are they acting like this to all their superiors?"

"That's one thing you get wrong Sir Kyle. If their parents were alive I'm sure they would have better manners and a much more disciplined lifestyle." Meadow replied with a slight edge in her voice.

Erika responded, "That's so sad. What happened?"

More edge was present as Meadow spoke, "Something that everyone is familiar with in this town. The reason is bandits. Six years ago in a harsh winter: a large swarm of bandits, bigger than we have ever seen, came at our town. Many civilians and guards died before the majority of the bandits were killed. My friend's parents were part of those casualties trying to protect them. Corse is especially hurt by it because now it seems his mother, who was the last one supposedly dead, could be alive. The three of them do everything and go everywhere with each other. That's why they want to go. Cass and Joshua want to help him."

No one said a word as Neimi thought, "So much hate must have been inside them and it's finally come out."

Meadow replied, either finishing her statement or seemingly reading Neimi's mind, "It's the same with all the people living here. They want blood as much as those three. Bandits are always killed. Too much blood was spilled by them and we're repaying the favor. We'll repay the favor if the bandit we have leads us to the right holdout but we're taking every precaution just in case it's a trap."

"Do you know who is going to go on this mission?" Ephraim asked.

There is going to be the leader of the guards, a mill worker Algus who helped stop the attack on the mill, multiple guards, and me. The guards coming consist of five capable snipers, five rangers who are excellent with the bow and blade, three knights, and the bandit we have in custody as well as you all."

"You are sure that those three aren't coming to?" Forde asked.

"Tork told them to stay and help guard the town in the absence of the group who was coming. They said they would stay but that was after Algus pulled the three of them aside and made them stay. I'm sure they wouldn't betray his trust." Meadow answered.

"Algus is the mill worker who is a retired Renais soldier? I think I read about him and heard Garcia talk about him before, 'A superb soldier that had many victories when the odds were stacked against him' I believe he said." Kyle remembered.

Meadow pointed to the wall that surrounded the town, "I just knew he was a soldier. You can ask for yourself when we get to the town which is now."

The cavalier led the knights into the town as the gate opened. Multiple people had gathered around welcoming her back and the younger kids looked at the knights behind her. When people noticed the two twin rulers of Renais with them there was almost an immediate gasp that emitted from their lips.

A fellow guard came up and said quickly, "Quickly Meadow, Tork is waiting. We're going to be leaving in two hours once the rest of the preparations have been finished."

The guard rushed off and within a minute the village cavalier, Renais knights, and the siblings were at the main guard barracks. They all dismounted, tied up their horses, and walked inside. None of them, not even Neimi, noticed the three teens had followed them and were listening outside the barracks.

"Meadow what took you? You're our faster cavalier and you took longer than anyone expected." Tork said.

"I guess you slow down a little when you're attacked by bandits and need to be healed." Meadow replied.

"I get your point. I take it these knights are the- wait King Ephraim? His sister Eirika?" Tork asked confused.

"We are here to help along with our knights. We would like to help put fear into bandits and send a message so to speak. We will not let bandit attacks go on any longer. Our allies in Rausten, Frelia, Jehanna, and Carcino agree." Ephraim answered.

"Well it's good to see our rulers fighting with the people instead of making them fight. I like that in you two. We would be grateful for your help." Tork said regaining his normal demeanor.

"I would like to introduce the rest of us here." Seth said motioning to Franz, Forde, Kyle, and Neimi. "This is Franz, his brother Forde, Kyle, and our ranger Neimi."

"She looks real young to be a ranger in the knights of Renais." a voice from a different room said.

The man who said that walked in adjusting straps on leather armor he was wearing. "Boy I haven't been in armor for ages. I think I'll prefer my normal clothes instead."

"Who might I ask are you?" Seth asked politely.

"The name is Algus. Don't let my hair color fool you. I can still swing an ax that will make you run for the hills." Algus replied.

"You must be the mill worker who held off bandits with the three we met earlier." Kyle asked.

"We didn't 'hold them off' son, we beat their sorry behinds with one of them almost losing his head." Algus corrected, adjusting pads on his elbows.

"I hope Meadow is correct when she said that they won't follow the group after you told them not to." Ephraim said.

"If it's one thing I can promise, I told them not to come and they agreed. I CAN'T promise if they will listen. When they decide to do something: they…will…do it. When it is something this serious it would be very hard to put them on a different path. I'm not sure if you know but a parent of one of theirs could still be alive. I'm sure they'll find a way to try and come." Algus explained. "You know, kids these days. Stubborn as revenant and as tough as knights."

"I hope they are going to listen to you. This would be far too dangerous even if they are good in a fight. They're just kids." Eirika had slight sadness in her voice.

"We all know the sad situation with the three teens now lets get on to business. Let me tell you what and how we plan to go about this." Tork explained turning to a map on the wall.


End file.
